This is a difficult issue to discuss. It's not something like a debate about how much to spend on a particular government program where most everyone acknowledges that reasonable people can have different opinions. I understand that people in opposition to homosexuality have deeply felt moral beliefs, and I understand the need to stand strong in defense of one's morals. However, as I see it, this is an issue of human rights. To accept less than 100% equality under the law is to support oppression, and that's wrong. Morally wrong.
Recognizing that there is a WORLD of difference between those who practice hate with their words or their fists and those like you, I still maintain that "disagreeing" with homosexuality is like "disagreeing" with someone being left-handed. People used to say being left-handed was wrong, too, and tried to train it out of children. It's not a choice, though; it's a fundamental aspect to how some people are. There is not a homosexual "particular relationship paradigm," because there are as many ways of having a relationship and/or being in love with someone of the same gender as there are with someone of the opposite gender.
In the USA, the right to free speech is protected, and I'm glad of that, even when it's protecting people saying things I disagree with to the depth of my soul. I can still be friends with people I disagree with. You are welcome to your opinion, and you are certainly allowed to express it. It's really good to hear opinions coming from a framework of love rather than the sort of venom spread by people like Pat Robertson or the Westboro Baptist Church. However, please ask yourself this question: if someone said, "I don't believe that black people and white people should marry each other, but I'm not racist," is that really possible? Homophobia, like racism and sexism, comes in a continuum. Falling at the gentler end of the continuum doesn't necessarily make someone a bad person. For people in a position of privilege, it's really hard to extinguish all traces of the -ism in question. Just please don't assume that refraining from using hurtful epithets means you aren't on that unfortunate continuum somewhere.
"Love the sinner but hate the sin" (the attitude I am gathering from your comment) is a hell of a lot better than hating the person. It is an attitude that allows a diverse society to function, and I am truly grateful for that. However, it still assumes that homosexuality is a sin. Sorry about the rant, but this is me following through with my statement in the entry that I will not be silent in defense of the rights of others, and that includes the right to be considered valid in the way that God created them to love.
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regna
(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-07 10:46 pm (UTC)This is a difficult issue to discuss. It's not something like a debate about how much to spend on a particular government program where most everyone acknowledges that reasonable people can have different opinions. I understand that people in opposition to homosexuality have deeply felt moral beliefs, and I understand the need to stand strong in defense of one's morals. However, as I see it, this is an issue of human rights. To accept less than 100% equality under the law is to support oppression, and that's wrong. Morally wrong.
Recognizing that there is a WORLD of difference between those who practice hate with their words or their fists and those like you, I still maintain that "disagreeing" with homosexuality is like "disagreeing" with someone being left-handed. People used to say being left-handed was wrong, too, and tried to train it out of children. It's not a choice, though; it's a fundamental aspect to how some people are. There is not a homosexual "particular relationship paradigm," because there are as many ways of having a relationship and/or being in love with someone of the same gender as there are with someone of the opposite gender.
In the USA, the right to free speech is protected, and I'm glad of that, even when it's protecting people saying things I disagree with to the depth of my soul. I can still be friends with people I disagree with. You are welcome to your opinion, and you are certainly allowed to express it. It's really good to hear opinions coming from a framework of love rather than the sort of venom spread by people like Pat Robertson or the Westboro Baptist Church. However, please ask yourself this question: if someone said, "I don't believe that black people and white people should marry each other, but I'm not racist," is that really possible? Homophobia, like racism and sexism, comes in a continuum. Falling at the gentler end of the continuum doesn't necessarily make someone a bad person. For people in a position of privilege, it's really hard to extinguish all traces of the -ism in question. Just please don't assume that refraining from using hurtful epithets means you aren't on that unfortunate continuum somewhere.
"Love the sinner but hate the sin" (the attitude I am gathering from your comment) is a hell of a lot better than hating the person. It is an attitude that allows a diverse society to function, and I am truly grateful for that. However, it still assumes that homosexuality is a sin. Sorry about the rant, but this is me following through with my statement in the entry that I will not be silent in defense of the rights of others, and that includes the right to be considered valid in the way that God created them to love.